Give to the Max Day is Thursday, Nov. 15

On November 15 the fourth annual “Give to the Max Day” will be held as an opportunity for individuals to donate to their favorite nonprofit organizations and schools through the internet.Last year on November 15, 47,534 individuals logged on to GiveMN.org and proceeded to donate a total of $13.4 million to nea...

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By Scott TedrickNews Editor

Granite Falls Advocate Tribune

By Scott TedrickNews Editor

Posted Nov. 15, 2012 at 1:48 PM
Updated Nov 15, 2012 at 2:21 PM

By Scott TedrickNews Editor

Posted Nov. 15, 2012 at 1:48 PM
Updated Nov 15, 2012 at 2:21 PM

On November 15 the fourth annual "Give to the Max Day" will be held as an opportunity for individuals to donate to their favorite nonprofit organizations and schools through the internet.

Last year on November 15, 47,534 individuals logged on to GiveMN.org and proceeded to donate a total of $13.4 million to nearly 4,000 nonprofit organizations. Locally, an increasing number of institutions are using the day to help bolster charitable receipts, finding that Give to the Max Day has benefits that extend beyond just a 24-hour time frame.

"We became involved Give to the Max Day in its first year in 2009," said Project Turnabout Director of Development and Marketing/Outreach Mark Sannerud. "We saw it as a great tool to do some additional fundraising ," he said. "The first couple year's results were pretty minimal, but the more years we've been involved the more online donations we are receiving through the site, particularly on "Give to the Max Day."

Sannerud said that he has noticed a few unexpected benefits from Give to the Max Day and online giving in general. For one, PT's director of marketing said that he has found that individuals have a tendency to donate greater amounts online than they do when writing checks. In addition, he said the online component has connected the organization to a new set of donors while also serving to raise awareness to PT's fundraising efforts as whole, creating the opportunity for a donation at a later date.

"We're definitely achieving new donors with whom we're able to keep contact going forward. And some of the donors, though they may not want make an online donation on the day, will send us a check at a later time."

Since launching in 2009, donors have given more than $50 million to over 6,700 nonprofit organizations on GiveMN.org. Meanwhile, other states and organizations have adopted the "Give to the Max Day" concept, having seen its success in connecting donors with charities.

"Thousands of nonprofit organizations have benefitted in the past three years, and this year we have added public schools to the list of organizations that individual donors can choose to support," explained Dana Nelson, executive director of GiveMN, in a press release. "We're constantly looking for innovative ways to expand the impact of this giving platform in Minnesota. We're also gratified to see the 'Give to the Max' movement spread across the country, empowering more donors and organizations to enrich the lives of others."

By going to GiveMN.org and searching by name or zip code, donors can locate nonprofits of interest. In Granite Falls alone there are approximately two-dozen organizations to peruse. In Clarkfield, the number is about 10.

Some organizations raise funds associated with particular initiatives while others employ matching grants or like incentives to promote giving. A few incentives are also being provided through GiveMN to help bolster generosity on the day. Most relevant to locals are "Golden Tickets."

Page 2 of 2 - Two Golden Tickets are awarded each hour, with additional tickets for K-12 public schools. A donor to a nonprofit and a donor to a K-12 public school will be randomly selected to have $1,000 added to their donations each hour, as well as two $10,000 Super-sized Golden Tickets that will be awarded at the end of the event – one for a nonprofit donor and one for a K-12 public school donor. The K-12 public schools golden ticket category includes public K-12 PTAs, charter schools and public K-12 districtwide school foundations.

A list of nonprofit organizations for Granite Falls and Clarkfield featured on the GiveMN.org site are listed in the accompanying grey boxes.